Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell Harnessing Tech to Improve Child Welfare with Ben Sand
Only 5% of the population say they would consider fostering. How can tech solutions and community based engagement increase this number? That’s the focus of this episode of Nonprofit Nation, where I talk with Ben Sand, TEDx speaker, nonprofit founder, and CEO of The Contingent.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, The Contingent partners with government agencies, nonprofits, and businesses to accelerate impact in foster care, education, and leadership development. Its mission is bold: empower leaders and mobilize communities to solve local problems using the same data-driven strategies that power the world’s most successful companies.
At the heart of The Contingent’s work is the Air Game: A proprietary digital mobilization strategy designed to recruit volunteers and foster parents at scale. In a world where only 5% of people say they would consider fostering, identifying and engaging that audience is both an art and a science.
Through its Every Child Initiative, The Contingent has:
- Engaged over 12,000 individuals exploring foster parenting
- Prepared 7,000+ families to begin the foster care process
- Mobilized more than 31,000 volunteers to support children and families
Ben’s TEDx talk, Harnessing Technology to Transform Foster Care, challenges the sector to ask: if the largest organizations in the world use data to reach the right audience, why aren’t we doing the same for our most pressing social challenges?
This episode is a powerful reminder that while ideas are everywhere, solutions that truly work for those experiencing the problem are priceless.
💼 About Ben Sand
Ben Sand grew up in Spokane, Washington, is the son of a single mother, and one of six siblings. He always roots for the underdog. Ben is CEO of The Contingent (www.thecontingent.org), a national venture nonprofit designed to empower leaders and mobilize community for the common good. Alongside a robust workforce development portfolio, The Contingent runs Every Child, an initiative spreading across the country to mobilize volunteers and foster families to care for kids in crisis. The Contingent has won national awards for the innovative use of data and technology.
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